Long time ago, when there was no A/C or electric fan, people did all kinds of things to keep cool. They generated wind with a paper fan, created a cool atmosphere with sounds or visual effect, and so on.

The cool atmosphere example is a wind chime. When a fresh breeze is coming, the clinking sounds from the glass chime bring us a mental relaxation with visual and acoustic effects.

Don’t you think it would be great if you can make something like it to make you feel cool?

Look at the above picture. It is a ice cream bar in the shape of a magnet made by the needle felting artist Rio Fukuda, who creates unique pastries with felts. Ice cream spills a little bit out from the bite…. How realistic and detailed it is! It’s just amazing!

Such a magnet on the refrigerator may let you reduce your craving for ice cream and cold sweetened drinks. It will not only make you feel cool but also help you with a diet.

On a blistering day last week, I went out to Sajiya gallery in Tokyo for the exhibition by “gamaguchi” creator Kaori Miyamoto.

With plant-dyeing and hand-woven clothes…..
Each “gamaguchi” purse is one of a kind with the pieced clothes which Miyamoto took the effort to collect and sew. Among a various and tons of purses at the exhibition, I was captivated by the one as shown in the picture above.

How can I express its coloration? It is not enough at all to just say “greenish”. It displays a rich colors and beautiful green gradation. “This is azure-blue. That is yellowish-green….” I can’t help voicing the color of each piece.

“Since I started living in the country, the scenery is predominantly fields and forests. One day I found myself choosing nature-toned colors more than before for my projects.” Miyamoto said in a shy tone on the opening day of exhibition.

It was several years ago when Miyamoto closed her own shop in Osaka to start a country life. Since then, she has devoted herself to a creative activity and tending a field.

Seeing a bit of the creator’s life through her clothes, we can become even more attached to her projects.

Encountering, collecting, and making up creation…. How excited it is to image that each “encountered” cloth is integrated to be a part of the work.

As Miyamoto’s lifestyle has changed her color choice for her creations, your lifestyle and way of being may affect your works. It is exciting but a bit concerning that your productions might express yourself.

Thinking so, it is really important to value every minute of each of our lives, isn’t it?

(*) “Gamaguchi” is a coin purse with one metal clasp. It literally means toad (gama) + mouth (kuchi/guchi) in Japanese. It does look like a toad’s big mouth when the purse is opened.

When summer comes, don’t you feel like making a dress with a cute print fabric?

The fashion designer for Francesca*aman label Yuka Yonekura was inspired to make children’s clothes by her daughter’s birth.

This summer, she sewed a very cute dress for her daughter.

“The gatherings and ruffles are simply added to the dress, so that my lovely mademoiselle will get excited. I have plan to visit Paris with my daughter this year, and I sewed the dress envisioning how fun to wander Paris with her.” Yonekura said.

She is already looking forward to uploading pictures of their wonderful time in Paris to Instagram.

The hot and humid summer is coming to Japan. Such a season may encourage you to select fabric bags to go out with more than usual.

The fabric “zakka” creator Kimie Shimizu makes bags with various materials all the time. She often uses cool, lightweight fabrics for her summer projects.

“In summer, I use more linen or cotton for my projects. While thinking about fabric colors to combine, I weave cotton rags to make a bag pocket, so it will bring the well-used appearance.” Shimizu says.

The crispy linen with tatty rag weaving….
Shimizu is always thinking how a flat fabric can have a steric-look when designing products. One day she found out that her product would be more voluminous with a unique texture by adding a rag-woven piece. Since then, the bag with a rag-woven piece has been her favorite, and she’s made a number of them.

Shimizu continues, “I would actually love to make a more frayed one enough to be torn easily, but reality is that such a creation cannot work as a bag. The rag-woven pieces are reflective of what I really want.”

It is practical and has its own character. This is what you can create with fabrics.
The drawstring bag will be more accentuated after closing the top, and its shape will depend on what you put in.

While the sky is blue after the rain, we are about to say hello to midsummer in Japan.

The trees, which have been lush until recently, are now showing the bright green color as they compete with the glare of the sun.

On such a sunny summer day, we found a chimpanzee in the woods. It is an “amigurumi” (*) doll made by the amigurumi artist Nami Yonezawa.

Her dolls are funny and cute, but looking closely, you will find that each animal’s characteristics are precisely expressed. Yonezawa always tries to create dolls which never get boring to look at. She also takes pictures of her work so they look as cute as possible.

The chimp in the picture above can hang on a tree branch or grab a banana because a wire strengthens the edge of each limb. In Yonezawa’s blog, another chimp shows up with such a story: “Since I made only one banana, perhaps the two chimps will get into a fight…? ” How will the story turn out?

You will see various unique animals like a lizard and a seal in her blog. Yonezawa’s real and cute “amigurumi” animals are really popular among children. This summer, how about playing zoo with your kids and your own “amigurumi” dolls?

(*) What is “amigurumi”? The word is derived from a combination of Japanese words “ami” and “nuigurumi”. “nuigurumi” means stuffed doll but it refers to sewn fabric items. “ami” means crocheted or knitted. That is, an “amigurumi” is a crocheted or knitted doll.